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Jackass Fern
Gully
Victorian members meet
held over the ANZAC long weekend
from Friday 25th April until Sunday 27th April
2008
The Jackass Fern Gully meet was held on
the ANZAC long weekend Friday 25th April to 27th April 2008 at Jackass Fern
Gully picnic spot in Cobobboonee state Forest. Cobobboonee State Forest is an
area of 27000 ha with the southern boundary about 5 km from Portland and the
eastern boundary 7 km south-west of Heywood. Used mainly by locals for day trips
and horse riding groups. It is also part of the Great South West Walk.
Thursday saw Paul head off and be all set up by early
afternoon to watch the arrival of Bob & Ann in their T-van, Bill & Mary in their
Goldstream caravan and Robert arriving about 5 pm with his Cub Camper. Leanne
arrived just on dark to see Robert just finishing off setting up and the rest
already around the fire enjoying the mild evening. Roland & Holly arrive in the
dark and quickly set up their Coromal caravan.
ANZAC day saw Dirk & Trent arrive very early with their
prototype camper. The rest of the day saw Dave arrive with his hiking tent, Mark
with his Camp/o/matic Ranger, Kevin and the girls with a very slow set up of his
Southern Cross, David P with his X-trial minus family due to illness, Doug &
Jeannie with their Ultimate and finally Dale & Linda with their rooftop tent.
Once everyone was settled in, there was much to catch up on
with new and old faces around the fire with camp cooking, a few glasses of red
and much laughter and stories told. Some snuck off to bed at a reasonable hour
feeling rather tired after a long day in the car.
Saturday we awoke to cooler weather and the very serious
threat of rain. Mid morning we received a phone call from our invited friends
just wondering how much further up the dirt track they had to go. By the tone of
Barry's voice all was not good and so Paul set off to the rescue, to find two
very muddy, dirty bikers who had come off the Harley - both uninjured thank
goodness. After righting the Harley and the jack knifed camper trailer, Paul
hitched the camper trailer up to the 4WD, put Marianne in the car and Barry
followed very slowly, arriving in camp looking a bit worse for wear but to a
very warm welcome and willing hands to help them set up.
Walkabout was planned for 11am Saturday but due to the rain
it was postponed until 2 pm where everyone had the chance to view everyone's set
up and to spy any great innovations - of which there was plenty, so walkabout
took quite some time to get around. The rest of the day was spent chatting and
relaxing.
Saturday night was spent around the campfire again with much
discussion happening on both sides of the fire. Plans for extended trips were
being plotted, that naughty word 12 volt somehow got mentioned and there were
even motor bike stories swapped. People drifted off to bed over the evening
leaving the diehards to it.
Sunday we woke to beautiful sunshine for a short time but the
rain came again just in time to re-wet everyone's canvas after almost being dry.
Everyone pitched in and helped those who needed it and by early afternoon Kevin
finally left after getting everything almost dry to only get saturated just
prior to folding up the trailer.
Sunday night saw Bill & Mary, Bob & Ann, Barry & Marianne,
Robert and Paul left to enjoy a showery night alternating between the fire and
shelter.
Some highlights of the weekend were:
- Jeannie introduced a new word "shoogle" to everyone. All us females understood
but I think the men are still trying to work it out
- Robert's forecast of snow! Yes it was cold
- Watching Mary decide exactly where the shower tent should be placed. Was that
1 or 2 hours with a sit and think in between?
- After making my gluten free bread on Friday, woke on Saturday morning to find
that some creature had had a lovely feast over night
- Talking of creatures, Kevin was blaming them for pinching his beer - or was
that Dirk?
- Someone relocated Roberts's landing strip so maybe he got lost on the way home
and found Kevin's stash of beer!
- Someone camped very close to the fire, also apparently needed to be pointed in
the right direction home on Saturday night. Most of us had gone to bed by this
stage and didn't witness, but that is the story
- Some yummy food was cooked and shared over the weekend. Thanks to Dale & Linda
for those cinnamon scrolls - yum and I did make the traditional batch of Dream
Pot scones to have during walkabout. Thank you to all the kids who so patiently
cooked marshmallows. Trent not sure how you managed to cook them all gooey and
soft without burning them!
Paul and I would like to than everyone who came for making it
such a memorable weekend. Thanks to Bob and Doug for bringing their chainsaws
and to everyone who helped collect the firewood. There were a lot of laughs
shared and stories told. Despite the cool and sometimes wet weather it was still
a great weekend. The thing that I notice most of all though was how everyone
pitched in to help others pack up, hitch up or whatever was needed. There were
always willing hands
We very much look forward to the next one.
Paul and Leanne
robert's photos
jackass album in photobucket
dave's photos
jackass album in flickr
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